A new employee hired by the landfill to keep usable items from ending up in the dump has yielded huge returns in its first six months.
Joe Angevine, landfill manager, said an additional 100 metric tonnes has been diverted from the landfill and sent to the centre for resale after six months. In turn, the Salvage Centre has generated between $30,000 to $35,000 from selling goods that would have ended up in the landfill, he said.
“It’s even exceeded our expectations as far as the materials he’s been able to salvage,” said Angevine. “We’ve had pallets that are still tied and lifts of wood from lumber yards in town that they’ve resold down there.”
The Foothills Salvage and Recycling Society and the Foothills Regional Landfill and Resource Recovery Centre partnered to cover the wage for the full-time employee.
Angevine said it’s something he and Salvage Centre manager Candice Dupre have discussed for years.
“There’s a lack of connection between our two sites even though we share the same site here,” said Angevine. “We have separate entrances and a lot of people who come to our site either don’t know what the Salvage Centre is doing down there or they don’t bother to go there first even though they may have some good material.”
He said they wanted to be able to reuse items that are in good condition and prevent people from climbing into bins themselves, which is unsafe.
Now, patrons are being greeted by an employee at the landfill bins, who will try to check each load before it’s emptied, looking for usable goods. Anything in good condition is redirected to the centre, he said.
He said they’ve managed to recover everything from riding lawnmowers still in working condition to bicycles, small tools, furniture and entire pallets of construction material.
“It’s the kind of stuff we’re trying to find better uses for, the stuff a lot of people know can be reused, but they don’t know where to take it or how to get rid of it,” said Angevine.
All the revenue generated from diversion tactics at the landfill goes to the Foothills Salvage and Recycling Society, which in turn supports community charities with its profits each year, he said.
It also helps people struggling financially to find more affordable household items in good condition, he said.
“It’s been very successful, and it’s beneficial for the landfill and the Salvage Centre,” said Angevine.
